Tag: politics

That day I was running late (as normal) to my medical office manager job. Luckily, the doctors were running later than I was.

I opened up the office, turned on the local AM radio station the head doctor liked to listen to and started preparing the patient rooms for the patients that were coming in that day.

And as I was getting the ledger ready for the day’s entries, I heard on the radio that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. It sounded like it was a small plane. ‘A Cessna probably,’ I thought and continued my daily work.

Then the announcer started to get more panicked as news started coming in of another plane hitting the World Trade Center. Then a plane at the Pentagon. And another plane downed in Pennsylvania.

I can’t remember the order anymore, but I remember the panic in the announcer’s voice. I remember every one of our patients canceling that day. I remember sitting in the doctor’s private office with his old TV turned on so that we could see what was going on. After the office closed for lunch I remember going to a friend’s house so I could continue to see the news coverage. I remember being in line for gas for over an hour as I tried to get home and thinking that the world was falling down around me.

I remember not being able to sleep that night, and for weeks afterward, without the TV blaring because it was just too quiet and scary. I remember sitting inches from the television, listening to the president speak words that weren’t in my common vocabulary before, “Al-Qaeda,” “Jihad” and later hearing the name Osama bin Laden.

Even bringing those things out and speaking about them, 17 years later, still hurts. I still want to cry. I still want to scream. I still feel a thickness in my chest that threatens to overcome me. Perhaps it’s PTSD, perhaps it’s simply the fact that the visions of those towers falling will forever be imprinted in my head, no matter how much I try to get them out.

This year, on this anniversary, I’m already seeing posts about how we shouldn’t have memorial services. We shouldn’t be marking this day at all because we created these evil people with our Middle East politics in the first place. Some would rather use this day to rally against the government and its international politics. Others want us to turn this day into a national day of mourning to honor the heroic dead that died on this day to ensure it stays fresh and can be recalled instantly by every American.

The fact of the matter is, I really don’t give a flying shit about any of those things. Right now, I simply still just want to grieve.

I want to grieve for what my nieces and nephews have lost thanks to now necessary extra security measures.

I want to grieve for the pain of loved ones that are missing friends and family that should have come home from work that day.

I want to grieve for my own life changes because on that day I became a little less naive.

I want to cry for the people on that plane, who realized they were going to die no matter what happened, and decided to take it down themselves.

I want to grieve for the unity of the country after the event. That unity was caused only by the shared pain everyone felt. We all were willing to pitch in and do what we could to help those that were hurting and try to pick up and get things moving again. It was comforting, yet upsetting to see all at the same time.

And now, seeing the posts I am, I want to grieve for the loss of that unity as I think now it may truly be dead in this country.

So for today, I really don’t give a shit about why you say we should or should not have memorials and why this happened in the first place. I don’t care about comparing the number of people dead in wars versus this horrible event in US history. And I’m certainly not going to respect those who bang a drum of remembrance while saying we should be doing such and such right now because of the heroes that died on this day. And the people who continue to place fear in hearts and minds that this could happen again because they want to get something passed in Congress can just go to hell.

All I want to do today is fucking grieve. And try to heal. Something I’m still trying to do after 17 years. So just give me the space to keep trying.

I’m getting very tired of hearing other opinions, especially when those opinions are openly against another person’s belief, the color of their skin, the way they dress, what they choose for themselves, or those against an entire religion. Yet, that feels like it’s all I’m surrounded by. And not only am I surrounded by those opinions I know now I have family members with those types of beliefs. And what is worst of all, it is now confirmed that people I chose to be a part of my chosen family and those I looked up to have opinions that demean and belittle others.

Each time I have heard about someone else close to me who has a believe that excludes others, it makes my heart ache. Don’t get me wrong, when it’s a story on the news about things that people are doing against each other, it hurts too. You pray for those affected and do what you can if there are monetary needs or petitions to sign. But when it gets close to home, things get really bad for me. Heartache turns to outright anger, bitterness and a whole hell of a lot of pain. But yet, when the talk from family or friends turns to those sore topics, I have still tried to be civil. I agree to disagree, or bring up reasons why things are not the way the person who is biased claims them to be. Even when my own uncle comes out against others for the color of their skin, I still try to ‘play nice’ for the sake of the family. I still try to listen, to understand, and to get them to understand where I am coming from.

There is a reason I was doing this. The thing is, one of the biggest problems this nation faces today is that we aren’t listening to each other. We aren’t recognizing there is an allowance for differences of opinions. There was a time when being ‘democrat’ or ‘republican’ meant that ideals were different, yet everyone believed in being civil, and both sides strongly felt they were doing the right thing for the nation. There was a time not too far in the past when civil debates could be held without fear and even political candidates stopped their constituents from throwing angry slurs at their opponents during rallies.

But unfortunately, those times are long over.

Today, it’s not just an opinion about whether or not to tax something anymore. Today, the differences of opinion are about large swaths of people and whether or not they have a right to education, a right to live and worship as they choose, or even just a right to exist. And I can understand why those beliefs are held. Some people that hold opinions against others do it out of fear, or they do it out of experiences they have, or they do it because that is what they were taught. And almost always those with the opinions of exclusion don’t think they are doing anything wrong. For example, I was recently told by someone that equality currently exists between a gay couple and a straight couple if the gay couple had at least a couple doctors to go and see. Sure, not all the doctors would be willing to see them because of their ‘christian’ faith, but because they still had a choice of some doctors who would take them as patients it didn’t matter if others wouldn’t see them. I couldn’t help but think if the situation was reversed that they wouldn’t think it was equal, no matter how many times they said they would feel the same way during that conversation.

No matter what it was justified it with, this person was talking about the exclusion of a human being. They were excluding another life, another spirit, another soul. They are excluding another in which, in many different religions, is believed to be that which has been made in a likeness of God – the very God they claim to worship. If that wasn’t bad enough, by excluding that person, many break a second tenant that is said in many different ways based on the specific religion, but basically boils down to ‘do not judge others’.

So here is where, in any conversation with someone whose opinion is being sliced to shreds, the cherry picking begins. Either I’m looking at something the wrong way, or I don’t fully understand the verses being spoken about, or another verse overrides what verses or holy books I’m quoting from. It doesn’t matter. In my personal belief system a human is still a human, and until they do something that clearly shows they don’t deserve it, respect for who and what they are matters deeply to me.

Automatic respect of others is radical. Automatic respect is the hard road. Recognizing the difference of opinion and accepting it (not approving mind you, but accepting) is ridiculously hard, especially in this polarized nation. But it’s what I’ve tried to do, time and time again. I’ve recently been in conversations with others that my husband has outright told me he would have immediately quit the conversation and stormed out of the room. Not because he nor I were being disrespected, but because the person was so passionate about their belief that they were right. This person wasn’t an outright hater or excluder, but they certainly were on the slippery slope to allow exclusion to happen and not find it to be wrong.

But I have to admit, even though I do my best, I still get shaken to my core. Recently in the Society for Creative Achronism (SCA), the ruler of a kingdom who has made racist statements on social media elevated a known racist to the highest honor of the kingdom, even while the other members who had a say vetoed the elevation. In another kingdom, months earlier, royalty decided to wear clothing with swastikas clearly sown into the embroidery. And today, I’m forced to recognize yet again that someone in my own household shares radical opinions about Muslims. This is someone who swore an oath to be kind to all, generous with their time, who is known as a caring individual, and yet, it seems to me now that these traits are just part of the ‘game’ that is the SCA, and not what they strive to be in real life. This is truly disheartening and sad.

Unfortunately, because I’m getting hit by this over and over, it makes me wonder about my own personal guidelines on dealing with these people. Do I give more benefit of the doubt than I should? Do I need to follow the example and turn away from anyone who even speaks about exclusion being right, even though it may not be outwardly racist or bigoted? And if I do, doesn’t that just mean that I’m becoming a part of the polarization, and not part of the solution? It breaks my heart that I have to consider these things. I have watched my own parents become bitter as they got older because of the beliefs and actions of others, and swore to myself that I would never become that way; that I would always seek the good in others no matter how hard it was to find, and only quitting if the actions of that person became threatening to me, my friends or loved ones.

Now I don’t know if I have the strength left in me to not be bitter.

But for now, trying to be open is the requirement I have set upon myself, not only as a personal ethical code, but for me, a religious one as well. So I keep trying. I keep listening. I keep trying to get both sides of the story, and try to change others minds when I can. Many are perhaps a lost cause. Probably many more than I’m willing to admit to myself right now. And perhaps there may be need of more distancing myself from those who don’t want to see another side. Perhaps those whose beliefs include exclusion of any kind should be distanced, their businesses not be patronized as much as I had before. And perhaps I withdrawal from the SCA even further than I have previously. And perhaps these things aren’t being done on my part out of malice or anger. Perhaps I simply need to do them for my own sanity. Perhaps then I might have more mental energy to engage someone who might actually listen and come to understand.

Take your prayers and thoughts and shove it
We made this mess, we live it
Day by day, night by night
The burning of the world never ends

So you don’t think you had an effect?
When was the last time you tried to act?
No, ACT
Not Cry
Not beg
Not pray
ACT – with a vote?
A call?
Donate?
Or volunteer?
Or ask why?

Did you try? No, you didn’t.
Too afraid of loosing your hate?
The hate sitting in your bones
Your mind?
Your heart?
Too afraid to lose “us” vs “them”?
Afraid of the human under that skin?

Afraid of that connection?
That touch
That knowing
That feeling
You don’t give a fuck about all that
Or anyone but yourself
Let them die,
Let them burn
You’ve got more important things to do
Like fighting for YOUR rights
YOUR religion
YOUR free speech
YOUR right to be loud and free
It’s YOUR gun, YOUR Ammo
And that’s alright
Cuz your rights just killed again
And Again
And Again

So cherish that hate
that blessed emotion
Keep it close so we don’t touch

I started building a new radio station to listen to at work based on one of my favorite bands, Breaking Benjamin. I’ve been in a bit of a melancholy mood for a while now so it fit to create a station around them. (For those that don’t know, the lead singer of Breaking Benjamin has been pretty public about his personal issues with anxiety and phobias, and to me you can feel that in his music. You can also feel the strength he uses to fight those illnesses, and that is what appeals right now. Times are tough, and we can be upset, but we also have strength in spades to get through).

So everything is going pretty well, and of course, as Pandora is designed to do, new music pops up. And it’s from the band Skillet. This is a band I wrote about awhile back. They are Christian, and don’t shy away from speaking about that. In fact, the reason they are still together is because one of their pastors counseled them to keep pushing forward and continue to speak about the “Glory of God”. In other words, keep that recruiting up! We need the revenue! (Yes, I’m aware my bias is showing here).

So that song got the Pandora thumbs down.

Then Ashes Remain came on. Again, another Christian Rock band. I looked them up, and they are too much like Skillet for my tastes. So another thumbs down logged. After the third Christian band popped up, I just decided to start looking up a list of “Christian” rock bands. I found out there are quite a few. The Color Morale, Red, Beartooth, Thousand Foot Krutch and many others I listen to identify as Christian. And that really bothers me.

So my choices now were that I’m going to have to either keep logging thumbs down on songs a lot more than I thought, or I’m just going to have to accept that there are a lot of Christian bands out there and pick and choose what I like. And if I just listen to them anyway, I get to do this despite the fact that I feel like most of these bands are out there specifically to recruit people to a religion broken by the people who identify with it.

Believe it or not, this is a pretty hard decision for me. I’ve done my best to steer clear of Christianity for many years. Christians can go live over there, and I’m here in my own belief system that suits me just fine. And occasionally, on my own terms, I’ll seek out those that I know don’t ‘recruit’ and see what they have to say. Speak to me about learning to become a better person, helping the planet or helping others gain their basic human rights and we will have things in common. Talk to me about how my religion is somehow wrong or beneath yours, and the conversation will very quickly be over.

However, times are changing, and perhaps the mix that Pandora chose for me is just a catalyst for the realization that I have more lessons to learn. Sooner or later, I’m going to have to accept that those of the Christian faith who look at me differently are integrated around me more than I feel comfortable about. Right now I just keep that out of my mind. However, perhaps that habit is a negative response, especially because of the amount of anger that comes up when I think about it. And sooner or later, I’m going to have to deal with that anger; the real reason my bias exists.

So here is the crux of the matter: I have more issues with the Christian religion than I thought. And now, I’m going to have to get off my gluteus maximus and figure out what those issues are and deal with them.

I talked about the fear of God syndrome once before. And I thought that once I wrote that post, that I had dealt with my issues regarding Christianity, and that was that. I thought I was doing a good job separating the religion from the people. Because honestly, the religion itself isn’t THAT bad. Love one another. Judge not lest ye be judged. Be still and know that I am God. Let him without sin cast the first stone. All of these things have profound meanings. And they are meanings that transcend the Christian religion. To me, it’s the PEOPLE who claim to be Christian that cause 90% of the problems with that religion, maybe even more.

I don’t need to go far to come up with excellent examples. Look at those who are against abortion. Sure, they are pro-life while the child is in the womb, but the minute the child is born there will be very little support it if the child was born outside of a strong family unit. Look at the prosperity gospel and how many people who have given up their entire life savings hoping for a miracle. Finally, and what angers me the most, is the issues in the current situation. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard ‘Christians’, in the current political climate argue against verses from the book that they claim to follow. “Oh, that verse is just hyperbole. Verses like that are throughout the entire bible.” Or, “Sure, it says turn the other cheek, but at the same time, Jesus wouldn’t want me to stand by and watch as my family gets robbed and killed.” Plainly put, these people will twist things to match what they want to believe, and they don’t give a shit about the true meaning of that religious text.

Perhaps I’m tired of seeing how people twist religion to make it fit what it is they want to do. It’s the same with the racism in Heathenism. There are interpretations of many religions that inflict more harm than they do good, and when that happens, there is something seriously wrong with the people that profess to be following that religion. Perhaps it wasn’t the case in older times, but in the current age I firmly believe that religion is meant to help us understand the world around us and how we fit in with that world. I firmly believe that the times where religion divided us should be over. We have evolved further than that.

But unfortunately, power over people is still something that is strived for by many. And religion is a tool that has been used for thousands of years to do just that; get power over people. And for the most part, people are programmed to accept that when it comes to religion, you are expected to relinquish your power to get anywhere. And thus you have the strife and conflict that we see today. And that leads me back to my current dilemma.

But at least now I can speak to the issue more clearly.

I am pretty damn angry at people within the Christian churches. I’m angry at how they failed me in my upbringing, how they didn’t answer my questions and how they forced me to follow along in a religion even though I felt so very different in my soul. I’m angry at the strife they caused me and so many other people like me that felt different. I’m angry that they made us feel like outsiders unless we conformed. I’m very angry they caused us to be afraid of the very Gods that were there to help us the entire time. And I am mad as hell that I have to deal with all of the leftovers of this upbringing. I get to deal with all of the confusion and pain as to why I can’t understand or fit with the people who call themselves Christian. I get to deal with them time and time again telling me that I still am wrong and that I need to ‘get with the program’ in order to save my soul. I get to deal with the embedded ‘fear of God’s wrath’ if I dare try to be myself. I get to deal with how I felt back then because I dared ask questions that people couldn’t answer. And last but not least, I get to learn over and over again how to be a survivor in a country that claims to be Christian, yet refuses to treat people the way their own Jesus said to.

And I’m allowed to be mad. I’m allowed to be mad as hell. I’m allowed to be so mad that I can spit nails anytime anyone asks me if “I’ve found Jesus” yet. Yeah, I found him, and he’s over in the Middle East doing what he can for the refugees that are dying. And now that you mention it, I saw him the other day in your church, bent over the altar weeping at those using his house for their own personal gain.

Obviously I’m showing my anger. I’m trying to get it out; to get a name to it. I need to identify and deal with it. I need to deal with it because of people like John Pavlovitz, Rob Bell, Michael Beckwith, Revered Ed Bacon and many others. Although these people are only a few of the vast number of Christians out there, they believe differently. They believe like me; that God is large enough to be involved in many different religions. They believe we are stronger if we support and take care of each other, no matter what religion you profess. And their beliefs contain the possibilities of what Christianity could become. So there is hope. Further, and thanks to the current political climate, I’m reminded that I, someone who is in a religion in the minority, needs to learn to work with others who are in the minority. Get enough of us together and we will become the majority, forcing change throughout the country.

Even if it is for that last reason alone, I need to deal with this anger.

I’m not sure where this thinking is going to lead me. I hope it’s someplace positive. I don’t want to dismiss good people trying to do what is right. And I know the people I mentioned above are trying to do just that. But the tenant of my faith says that I must work on myself; that I must overcome my own shortcomings and strive to be a better person. This is what it means to me when I say I stand with my Gods.

So I guess because of my faith, my religion, I need to figure out a way to be more accepting to those that truly profess theirs. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to feel bad for not listening to Skillet and bands like them that profess the current status quo of this currently broken religion.

As I reflect on what has happened since the inauguration, I realize that the next four years are going to be harder to deal with than I had ever imagined. The first several days in office, and we are already introduced to things like the new presidential cheering section that follows the President to force other people to laugh and applaud at what he says. We are also forced to deal with the new lovely term ‘alternative facts’ and the danger they can pose when people start believing them to be true. And of course, this is just the icing on the cake; he’s already working to dismantle policies that could have detrimental effect on American citizens and our environment. I hate to say it, but all of this has just made my mind spin.

Part of me wants all of this to stop. Just days after the new government was installed, part of me doesn’t want to listen anymore. My social medial feeds, already full of political posts are also now full of arguments between friends on what is ‘good’ and what is ‘bad’ for our country. And while some of the conversations are civil, many get out of control pretty darn fast.

I thought I had put down enough of a plan of action in my post just after the election. But now I realize I what I said I would do is not enough. As I said in that post, I don’t want to be political. I don’t want this blog to become a political activist page. Certainly standing up for what you believe in is a spiritual pursuit, but it is not my role to be a politician or political activist 100% of the time. And I know I’m not the only one who feels this way. I know there are others that are just so fed up with it that they are ready to ignore the entire government and any action they take in the next four years.

But that’s what the current administration WANTS us to do.

I am betting that one of the reasons there is so much media coverage on the numbers of people present at the inauguration vs the Women’s March this weekend along with the other hotly debated items is to push people to do just that – stop. Stop considering about becoming part of the democratic process by letting their voice be heard. Stop pushing forward because no matter what you believe, the polarized social networks are now just so in-your-face about things that it’s just too hard to have a dissenting opinion. The more the pundits speak, the more zinger tweets that get shared, the more spin gets out there and the more the real issues get buried.

A meme I saw last night put everything into perspective for me. It took me a moment to remember the episode (I’m not as strong on Star Trek as I am Star Wars), but it was a meme based on an episode of “Star Trek the Next Generation.” In the episode, Captain Picard was being tortured by a Cardassian. During the torture, he was shown four lights. But he was told that his torture would stop if he would only agree that there were five lights that he was being shown, not four. All he had to do was say there were five lights, and he could live in luxury for the rest of his life and all the pain would end. The meme speaks for itself what the conclusion of that episode; he was rescued, and as he was leaving, he yelled at the Cardiassian that there were four lights.

And thanks to that meme, I realize that it’s time for more evasive action. I needed to do more; to reevaluate my plans in how to deal with the issues coming up in these next four years.

While thinking about these things, I came across two posts from John Beckett on Patheos.com. The first was about maintaining the Sovereignty of your Mind. In that post he spoke about what I realized when I saw the above meme. This truly is going to be a fight for the hearts and minds of the American People in the next four years. And many people are going to give up; they are going to see all of the chaos caused by the media about the minuscule arguments, and it’s going to take its toll. We need to be aware of that, and we need to be aware of that now. We have to set our minds up to filter through the noise so that we can see the real issues that will need to be addressed.

Secondly, John spoke about having an agenda for the next four years. And again, he is spot on. Even when we start removing the noise from the media, we aren’t going to be able to save everything. We are going to need to have our own agenda. No one can make these decisions for us. We are going to have to think deeply about what decisions we want to voice our opinion against, and what ones we can live with. We need to also ensure that we remain healthy. We still need to maintain a healthy balance in our lives, or else we will just burn out. This is a marathon, not a sprint, and we haven’t even completed the first mile yet. Pacing is going to be key, and having that balance between activism, spiritualism and other efforts in life is going to be our pacer.

Thanks to an app called countable, I will be more up to date on what congress is actually doing without relying on media news feeds or listening to social action networks. So my words will be more in line with what is actually going on, when it is going on, and will be appropriate responses. I’m cutting down my intake of social media even more, and plan to keep my news intake to a minimum (10 minutes on NPR during a news update should be enough.)

I still firmly believe that human rights are not something that should be a political football; that they transcend politics, no matter what your race, creed, religion or your sexuality. I also believe that we still need to be caretakers of this great earth of ours. She is a giver of life, not a resource to be mined uncontrollably. At this point I don’t care if you call me a liberal, a conservative, or whatever. These fights transcend politics. They are things that should be embedded in our hearts, and our actions day in and day out should reflect them.

I wish sometimes that I wasn’t the type of person that pushes through conflict. I sometimes wish things were easier than what they have to be. I wish for it, but I already know that this is one wish I shouldn’t have granted. It’s the one thing that won’t change. We live, we struggle, we grow from the struggle, and the growth allows us to get ready for the next struggle. I guess this time the struggle is simply something outside my comfort zone. The cycle sounds simple enough, but it is the basis for all of the growth of this planet. It is so embedded in our DNA that it’s a part of growth itself. And even though it’s a hard cycle to continue, by doing our best to honor it we also honor those that were a part of putting this cycle into motion.

I didn’t want to start writing political posts. I didn’t want to be a political activist. For most of my adult life, speaking up when something mattered to me as well as voting in each election was enough. Most of the rest to me was just noise. But now in the political and polarized society that is now the United States. I can’t just be someone who just watches what happens anymore. Too many people are using this election as the excuse to demean and downright bully their fellow man. I can’t stand idly by and watch that happen.

My own introverted self would much rather go back to talking about my own self-improvement and my own spiritual exercises. I would also much rather continue to stretch myself by providing intuitive messages to help others in their own quests for knowledge and improvement. But that isn’t the world we live in anymore. And that is something that I become painfully aware of the minute I get on social media and see the news. We are a nation that is more polarized, angry and full of fear. And we have to do something about it.

It took me more time than I expected, but I have been figuring out things that I can do to help matters. I already know my activism will be much different than someone else, and that’s alright. We all need to be able to help in our own way. So what my activism is going to look like is below. I offer it as ideas for others to shape their own.

I don’t care who you voted for anymore. People might not like to hear this, and I understand. But the truth of the matter is that almost half of the people in this country voted for someone whom almost the other half believes to be immoral in some form or fashion. Another group voted for someone else whom others feel is immoral. And another significant portion of this country didn’t vote. Now we can choose to continue the polarization of the United States by just trying to side with 1/3 to 1/2 of the nation that believes exactly like we do, or we can try to give the benefit of the doubt that some people voted the way they did because they felt like they had no other choice. Some of the long conversations that I’ve had since the election include those who call themselves republicans, and yet are just as upset as I am at the violence that they see happening. In those conversations we have acknowledged that violence has happened on both sides of the political spectrum, and that violence against anyone isn’t getting us anywhere.

If someone clearly disrespects someone else based on their creed, race, gender, belief or ethnicity, that is a different story entirely. In that case we know why they voted the way they did and they don’t have my support. And I will do my best to keep my eyes open to prejudice and do what I can to combat it. But until someone’s actions tell me otherwise, I’m willing to do what I can to provide support to anyone who needs it.

I will respectfully listen to what you have to say, but you better back it up with credible news sources. In turn, others need to respectfully listen to me and should I bring up an incident, I better be able to back it up as well. Media spin is crazy, and it’s keeping us polarized. Everything is getting spun depending on who it is that is writing the story. Even this weekend, there is already lots of spin regarding Vice President Elect Mike Pence being ‘bullied’ and ‘called out’ when he went to see the musical Hamilton. He wasn’t ‘bullied’, as some still believe. There is a video of the actual situation that is floating out there that I’ve watched, and the most accurate story that I have seen that matches the video is here. If you won’t be respectful of me, then I have no choice to put you in the group that I spoke about above, and you aren’t worth my time or energy to address. And in that case, you have probably made up your mind a long time ago, and refuse to think anyone else could be right.

It’s time to be active on what the real issues are. We are going to see lots of memes, hear lots of talking points and discussion on what is said by the elected leaders in the next four years. But none of that matters until it gets into the actions of the government when they take over January 20. Even the proposed attorney general needs to have confirmation by the United States Senate, and he didn’t pass a confirmation previously because of his racial comments. So instead of posting memes and replying to comments, perhaps it’s time to start calling our current and new senate leaders and start voicing our opposition now. And if that doesn’t work, volunteering or giving money to the ACLU and other civil rights organizations so that they can continue to fight on our behalf are other good ideas.

I’m not saying protesting is a bad idea. Protesting is utilizing our first amendment rights, and it’s very important. But we need to have a multi-faceted approach to our political work now. And where I may not be able to protest, I’m going to at least make the calls and write the letters.

It’s time to be active on a metaphysical level. One of the things that has been very effective in the past is when pagans unite at a specific date and time to send prayers and energy to help overcome a situation. If we can do that more often, even once a month, it may help to lessen the effects that we have to deal with for the next four years. So I’m working with some friends in order to figure out how something like that would work. Perhaps if we start organizing these types of things a week or two in advance, more people can participate. This would also allow us to focus our energy on what is needed the most at a specific time. Further, any network that is put together I want to see done on a private level. That way each person has a choice to promote the event or not, and are not immediately ‘outed’ by joining a certain Facebook or Google+ group. I will provide more detail as things progress on that front (or comment here if you would like to have that information when it is ready).

One thing is clear to me; here in the United States, we will need to fight to keep the things that we have achieved. We are not going to win on everything, but if we can stick together, we can help lessen the effects of this administration, and perhaps become more united than we are right now.

Yesterday I talked about how I realized that I was falling into the polarized mess that became this election. Today, I still feel just as upset about who it was that won, but not because of that polarization.

The path of polarization has only brought hate and fear. I learned that lesson from my own upbringing, and I learned it again yesterday. We can no longer afford to automatically assume that someone who looks or thinks different than ourselves is the enemy. We can no longer afford to get into the same arguments over and over, and have elections be ‘us v them’ like they have been for the past 20 years. We need to find a better way, and I believe that part of that way is trying to understand each other, to teach and educate, and not respond so harshly to one another.

That being said, we still have to stand for our own values, and ensure that everyone…EVERYONE has the same basic human rights.

Today, now more than ever, I fear for those who look, think and act differently. I fear for those who were just starting to feel safe loving someone that society says they should not. I fear for those who choose to be what society says not to. We, who look more like we ‘fit in’, need to do what we can to help. We need to say some thing when we see injustice, and be prepared to act if necessary.

I remember a bumper sticker I saw once, “If you are not outraged, you are not paying attention.” Yes, I am outraged. And yes, I’m upset. It’s going to be a long, hard 4 years. And that’s why my next steps are still going to have to include backing off of my intake of media attention. And I’m backing off and filtering my social media feeds as well. With the exception of National Public Radio (NPR), which is the least biased media I can find, I need to do this. And my best is that I’m not the only one who should consider this. We are only going to burn ourselves out if we start scrutinizing every move our government makes from this point on. There will be plenty to be outraged about. But we sill need to live our lives as well. We still need to give ourselves rest and allow ourselves to heal. What good will we be to others if we are burnt out from hearing story after story that induces frustration and anger? We have to choose our battles now, and choose wisely.

There will be people out there with a better constitution than I who will be more active than I. That doesn’t mean what I’m doing isn’t enough. It means they will do what it is that they can, and I will do what I can. I’m already thinking about what I can change in my budget to allow for more money to go to organizations like the ACLU, and other organizations that support LGBT rights. Where others cannot afford to help monetarily, perhaps I can.

Finally, and what perhaps may be the hardest, we still have to reach out to those who think differently than we do. We still should not judge others immediately by what we think they mean. We need to be respectful, and we need to let their actions tell us what they truly feel and believe. If they don’t believe in the basic premise of human decency, of basic human rights, THEN we need to get to work. But until then, we need to see more people as potential allies, because we are going to need every one of them we can get to step forward together.